Improvement in brick-machines



Brick-Machines,

s, THOMAS.

Patehted July 8, 1873.

Fig.2.

ATTEST.

INVENTOR.

W. a. M PL 5 7 AM. PHom-urHasRAPmcca.Mr(0saomvz%pnaczss) UNITED TATESJOHN S. THOMAS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

IMPROVEMENT IN BRICK-MACHINES.

Specification formin g part of Letters Patent No. 140,742, dated July 8,1873; application filed May 27, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatl, JOHN S. THOMAS, of St. Louis, St. Louis county,Missouri, have invented a certain Improvement in Brick-Machines, ofwhich the following is a specification:

The first part of my invention consists in a mold-cylinder havingdiametric mortises the length and breadth of a brick in their transversesection, and containing plungers which move the distance of thethickness of a brick or more in the mortises, so as to alternatelypresent a cavity on the opposite sides of the cylinder to receive theclay, which is pressed therein by a follower, whose entrance andpressure of the clay drives the plunger forward and expels thepreviously-pressed brick from the other side, the cylinder taking asemirotation between the movements of the follower. The second part ofmy improvement consists in arranging on the balance-wheel a cog-segment,which, at each rotation of the balance-wheel, engages a spur-wheel onthe mold-cylinder shaft, and gives the cylinder a semi-rotation topresent the other side to the cam-operated plunger, by which the clay isforced into the mold, the clay acting on the interior plunger to forceout the brick from the molds on the other side. The third part of myimprovement consists in the combination of a single tooth on the insideof the'balancewhich a proper amount of clay is forced into the boxbetween the cam-plunger and the mold before each forward movement of theplunger, so that the supply of clay shall always be at the proper timeand in proper quantity. The fourth part of my improvement consists inthe combination of the mold-cylinder having plungers thereinv and thecam-plunger, arranged. as described.

Figure l is a side elevation of my improvement with parts removed. Fig.2 is a horizontal section through the molds, but showing some part ofthemold-cylinder in top view to show the spring-catch. Fig. 3 is alongitudinal vertical section.

A is the frame of the machine supporting .a

'- main shaft, B, to which horse or steam power by the pulley on shaft Eand extending to the V clay supply, wherethe clay is shoveled on theconveyer. The main shaft carries two cams, F, by whose periphery theplunger G is forced forward. These cams have flanges f, which engageprojections G of the plunger G, the said projections carryinganti-friction rollers g, on which the flanges act directly to draw backthe plunger. The plunger travels between horizontal slides H. On itsforward end are followers g, whose front face has equal dimensions withthe side of a freshly-pressed brick. These followers travel inopen-topped boxes h, and at each forward movement of the plunger entermolds t' in the side of the moldcylinder K carrying a proper amount ofclay into the molds and compressing it therein. The mold-cylinder K ismortised through diametrically the full size of the molds i, and themortises (of which two are shown) contain plungers I, which are so muchshorter than the mortises in which they slide as toleave (when flushwith one side upon the other side) a mold-recess, i, to receive theclay. clay enters the mold it forces forward the plunger I and ejectsthe pressed brick from the mold on the other side of the cylinder, thepressed bricks being forced out onto the table J. The plungers havehorizontal slots 1 traversed by stop-pins 12 passing diametricallythrough the cylinder, and which limit the movement of the plungers byimpingement against the ends of the slots I. The moldcylinder receivesmotion from a segment-rack, Z, on the balance-wheel L, the segment-rackengaging a cog-wheel, k, on the shaft of the said cylinder. The rack lis provided with a sufficient number of teeth to cause the cylinder totake a semi-rotation at each action of the rack, so as to present itsother side to the followers 9 for the molds (from which the pressedbricks had been forced) to receive a fresh supply of clay, and to carrythe filled molds to a position to deposit their bricks upon the table J,when the plunger I is driven forward by the clay in entering the mold iupon the rear side of the cylinder. These semi ATENT OFFICE.

As the rotations of the cylinder are made certain and the-cylinder heldin position during the action of the plungers by a spring-catch, M,having a point, m, entering the end of the cylinder, being forced in bya spring, m, when the cylinder has attained the proper position toreceive the clayin the molds upon one side and to eject the bricks fromthe other side. The clay is carried by the conveyer E and dropped intothe pug-mill, which consists of a hopper, N, surrounding the shaft D,which carries mixing-knives d, and a forwarder, d, by which the clayis'forced out through the mouth a and into the hopper O, beneath whichare ribbed rollers P, each of which carries a spur-wheel, saidspur-wheels engagingtogether to give the rollers a simultaneous rotationin opposite directions. ()ne of the shafts of the rollers P carries aspur-wheel, p, which, at each rotation of the balance-wheel L, isengaged by an interior cog, l, of the balance-wheel, and the rollers byit receive a partial rotation. The rollers P and their longitudinal ribsare made of such size and form and their movement is made at such a timethat on each backward movement of the followers gthey force down asuflicient quantity of clay to form the next filling of bricks,(consisting, in the machine shown and described, of two bricks, but thenumber made at each operation may vary.)

The operation is as follows: The machine being in motion, the clay dropsfrom the con veyer E into the hopper N, and is mixed by the knives d andexpelled from the hopper by the forwarder d into the hopper 0, fromwhence it is carried down at intervals (as wanted) by the rollers P intothe boxes h between the followers 9 and the molds i, and on the forwardmovement of the followers 9 the clay contained in the boxes h is forcedinto the molds i, forcing forward the plungers I and ejecting the bricksfrom the opposite molds i, which are on the front side of the cylinder.The cylinder K and followers now rest a short time in this position topress the brick and allow the escape of air; but the continued rotationof the cams F brings the flanges f behind the projections G and drawsthe followers backward from the molds. Then the lug l on the side of.the wheel L comes in contact with the heel m of the catch M and drawsout its point m from engagement with the cylinder K, and the segment Iimmediately following gives to the cylinder a half rotation by thespur-wheel 70, carrying the pressed brick into position for ejectment.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of the cylinder K, plungersI, and followers g, the plunger being actuated by the pressure of theincoming clay and controlled by stop-pins z", substantially as and forthe purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the cylinder K provided with the plungers I andthe segmentrack Zon the wheel L, arranged andoperating substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination of the cylinder K, springcatch M, balance-wheel L,and lug Z, all arranged and operating substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of follower g, box h, rollers P, and balance-wheel Lprovided with tooth Z, all arranged and operating substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

5. The combination of the mold-cylinder K, plunger I, box h, plunger G,and cams F, arran ged and operating substantially as set forth.

JOHN S. THOMAS.

Witnesses SAML. KNIGHT, ROBERT BURNS.

